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Kelowna’s Best Western Plus Hotel has sold for $41.5 million.
The 176-room hotel at 2402 Highway 97 was purchased by Kamloops-based Mundi Hotel Enterprises, with the new ownership taking over on May 1.
“Kelowna is a growing community and we've see a lot of potential in that market in the future,” Ron Mundi, Mundi Hotel Enterprises CEO and founder told Castanet.
Mundi has been investing heavily in the Okanagan in recent years, including building three entirely new hotels in the South Okanagan since 2018, one of which is set to open in Penticton this summer.
Mundi says they have been eyeing the Kelowna market for a long time, drawn by the booming economy and year-round, domestic visitor traffic.
“Even in the COVID times, the Okanagan (hotel) market was very strong,” Mundi said, explaining that while Vancouver was hurt by the lack of international tourism, it’s always mostly been Canadians coming to the Okanagan.
“We feel we have enough Canadians who can travel to this region, which is a wonderful area,” he said.
The company also owns and operates hotels in Kamloops, Prince George, Fort. St John and Edmonton.
Mundi says the majority of the rooms at the Best Western were already renovated by the previous owner as condition of the sale. They are in the process of finishing that refresh.
The sale of the Kelowna Best Western comes at a time where hotel sales are surging in Canada.
Colliers hotel division released an industry update this week that showed the sales of hotel assets up are 70 per cent to $335 million in the first three months of this year.
“The travel industry remains in solid recovery mode. As we enter the busy summer season in Canada, hoteliers are anticipating a robust operating environment with many reaping record top-line revenues,” said the Colliers report.
The Best Western sale worked out to $235,000 per door, much higher than the national average of $150,000 per key achieved in the first quarter 2023.
with files from The Western Investor
